That cry is often heard by those who call themselves the
news media. They try to set themselves
as the protectors of mankind while trampling the privacy and lives of everyone.
This past month the world of sin has screamed and jeered and
happily tried to disassemble a family in America because of the foolishness of
a Na’ar. What is a na’ar? A na’ar
is a youth, a child too young to have developed all the wisdom, reason and
understanding we should develop as adults.
They may have been taught the basics of Christian doctrine and how to
live but it has not yet become fully established in their life. A young man behaved badly toward some family
members and others and his parents had to take measures to ensure he received
correction. His life thereafter has been
one of growth and maturity even while living in a fishbowl of cameras and
observation. In all the thousands of
hours of video his family has lived under they have only been able to find one
or two instances of thoughtless comments to hound him on.
I am 58 years old. I
would hate to have all my foolish comments or actions from my teens and early
twenties thrown back in my face. If I
have lived a few years with no increase in bad habits and a definite pattern of
good ones then both God and man should be satisfied with that. Thankfully God is but man holds grudges even
if it may cost them their eternal future.
Growth is a continuous process, it is added to our lives, line upon line
and precept upon precept. The demonic
attack against this young man has not come because someone is righteously
trying to protect the public. There is
no public danger involved in this man’s life, in fact his goals and honesty
have placed him light years ahead of his peers.
He is a godly caring Christian man and that is where the problem lies. His life will forever be ridiculed by those
who are offended by his desire to be better and rise above the rampant flesh we
all war with.
Many of his accusers do not even try.
Romans 1:28 And since they did not see fit to
acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be
done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil,
covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,
maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent,
haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish,
faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that
those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give
approval to those who practice them.
I won’t attempt to write about all of this right now. Verse 28 explains the result of a refusal to
acknowledge the God of the universe.
Once you have declared God to be non-existent he leaves you to your
father the Devil. It is no wonder that
those who do not believe usually are disgusted by or bear animosity toward
Christians. The Spirit of God dwells in
us and Satan hates us. Christians and
Jews have always been hated and abused throughout history. It has always been so except for those
periods when the state religion has been a twisted form of Christianity that
bore little relationship to the truth.
They are filled with malice, strife, deceit and maliciousness. By definition they bear us ill will.
These people gossip and slander any with whom they do not
agree. If a Christian desires to live a
holy and upright life before God, he or she is said to be filled with hatred
and a ‘phobe’ of one sort or
another. It does not help that many
Christian churches respond in fear rather than love, in many cases appearing to
prove those opinions against us. That
these churches have absolutely broken the doctrines contained within our
scripture is conveniently ignored for the purpose of casting blame, not where
it is deserved, but where it is most wanted.
If someone wishes to blame Christians, then there are enough deluded
lunatics who call themselves “Christian” to heap that blame upon us all.
Oddly enough, they will accept Islam with it’s doctrine of
death and jihaad but not Christianity with its doctrine of love and grace.
In our most pure state, we are truly the people of the
book. Our scriptures are not flexible,
allowing for hatred, thievery, unmarried sexual intercourse or violent
anger. These things are forbidden of
us. Christ said, “Love thy enemies.” Any other response places you dangerously
near the enemy’s camp. While we are not forced
to fixedly obey the Old Testament law, we are required to obey an even greater
law of love, grace, mercy and forgiveness.
I once wrote a book about the heart.
Most scriptures I explained took a single chapter for sufficient
depth. The few verses about the agape love of God contained in First
Corinthians 13 required six chapters. It
takes great faith in God to love those who do not love us.
1 Timothy 5:13 Besides that, they learn to be
idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips
and busybodies, saying what they should not.
Recently I wrote about a woman of virtue. Proverbs 31 shows how she stayed busy and did
not idly lay about. She was a woman who
sought out the vision of God for her life and multiplied that vision 30, 60 and
100 fold. There is another type of woman
(and probably man for that matter). First Timothy 5:13 speaks of the other
sort. They wander from house to house
spreading private truths and even lies with a sparkle of malice in their eyes. They tell a tale with an eye to wounding a
soul and breaking a heart. Verse 12 says
that they receive damnation for telling truth OR lie for the sake of wounding
another.
Whether or not the story you tell is true or not is unimportant. God says that the tongue is a world of
iniquity. We are supposed to protect
each other and help one another to grow.
1 Peter 4:8 says, “Most
important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” God has never intended that everyone’s sins
and flaws should be revealed for the whole world to see. He is gracious toward us when we repent and
often covers our faults even as He forgives them. When we shove those forgiven flaws out for
the world to see, we have set ourselves in the place of God and that is a
position He will not allow us to take.
Gossip is an abomination as great as any other.
2 Corinthians 12:20 For I am fearful that somehow or other I may come and find you not
as I desire to find you, and that you may find me too not as you want to find
me—that perhaps there may be factions (quarreling), jealousy, temper (wrath,
intrigues, rivalry, divided loyalties), selfishness, whispering, gossip,
arrogance (self- assertion), and disorder among you.
In this scripture Paul placed gossip right along side of
factions (taking sides), jealousy, anger or wrath, selfishness (and coveting),
disloyal (lying friends), whispering (back biting), arrogance and
disorder. Take a moment to ask if any of
these moral flaws are found in your own heart.
We’re quick to judge others for transgressions we call the BIG sins, but
God judges the heart well before judging mere actions. He came to heal the broken hearted and it is
a well known saying that hurt people hurt people, damaged people damage others
and wounded people are quick to wound.
Unless you see someone’s heart and treat that heart with God’s Word then
you have no right to point out actions.
In Proverbs 30 says a man prays, “7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 8
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me
with food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is
the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.”
Living for the Lord
is a balancing act. We stand between the
complete (and unreachable) holiness of God and the desperate and abominable
degradation of man. As long as we are
living in this fallen world, we will often find ourselves struggling to simply
‘obey the Spirit.’ Paul decried the
impossibility of this life in Romans 7:22, “For
I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members
another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the
law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will
deliver me from this body of death?”
For this reason it behooves us to minister God’s love to others by grace
and mercy. In Matthew 7 Jesus said,
“Judge not, lest ye be judged.”
1 Peter 4:3 AMP For the time that is past already suffices for doing what the
Gentiles like to do—living [as you have done] in shameless, insolent
wantonness, in lustful desires, drunkenness, reveling, drinking bouts and
abominable, lawless idolatries. 4 They are astonished and think it very queer
that you do not now run hand in hand with them in the same excesses of
dissipation, and they abuse [you]. 5 But they will have to give an account to
Him Who is ready to judge and pass sentence on the living and the dead. 6 For
this is why the good news (the Gospel) was preached [ in their lifetime] even
to the dead, that though judged in fleshly bodies as men are, they might live
in the spirit as God does.
I had a friend who was in the Air Force with me. She was an alcoholic who drank every day with
the men and women of her shop. One day
she gave her heart to Jesus and he delivered her from her dependence on
alcohol. Instead of partying with the others
she would sit quietly aside and read her Bible during slow times rather than
drink. The people in her office were
deeply offended by this action. She
never spoke against their lifestyle or got “preachy” toward them as is the
usual complaint against Christians.
She didn’t act like that Baptist church that curses people
at homosexual’s funerals. It didn’t
matter. They began to lie about her and
say she refused to do her job. They
hounded her about her activities and ordered her not to bring a Bible to work
even though she only read it when others were drinking and playing cards. Eventually they forced her to accept a
discharge and except for the Lord’s help would have given her a bad conduct
discharge. He worked it out so she
received an honorable discharge instead.
1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand:
be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 8 And above all things have
fervent love among yourselves: for love shall cover the multitude of sins. 9
Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 10 As every man hath received
the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the
manifold grace of God.
This scripture is one that should affect all our lives
powerfully. We are living in the end
times. This much is obvious by our
current world climate and recent history.
Israel has returned and is in her rightful place. All the world hates or is beginning to hate
her. Even many Christians, God’s elect,
are against Israel and siding with the so called Palestinians. The truth is that God STILL curses those who
curse Israel and blesses those who bless Israel (Ezekiel 36:1-8).
Verse eight tells us to FERVENTLY love one another. That means we must love each other with great
zeal. We don’t have the right to love in
a lukewarm manner. The second part
states that this fervent love hides a multitude of sins. People sin, saved people sin; as long as we
live in this body we will sin because it is our NATURAL inclination to do
so. Christians who live as holy a life
as they can are fighting against that sin nature. All of us fail and fall short but we are
admonished to press toward the mark of the high calling and grow into greater
maturity. The Bible says a righteous man
falls seven times but he gets back up again (Proverbs 24:16).
When people in the world point out our failings to make themselves
feel better it doesn’t change the fact that overall we are more holy and live
better lives. On the one hand we can’t
compare ourselves to them because it is God’s holiness we are aspiring to; on
the other, they can’t honestly compare themselves to our shortcomings because
it isn’t who or what we are and our righteousness is of God as Isaiah 54:7-8
says, “No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment
thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”
We make mistakes as Christians when we follow a dynamic
personality and try to live up to their expectations. We should always strive to live up to God’s
expectations. Obviously we’ll always
fall short overall, but we will improve daily, line upon line and precept upon
precept. Verse nine above should be a
challenge to all of us. We must offer
hospitality to one another without grudging.
If you can help someone, help them.
Certainly there are those who are users and abusers, I don’t believe you
must allow yourself to be misused but on the other hand, you should never shut
up your bowels of compassion toward others (1 John 3:17).
In verse ten we are admonished to fully use the gifts we
have been given. It also says that we
received those gifts due to the manifold grace of God. We are to be good stewards of that grace and
those gifts. It isn’t ours. God gave them to us to be used. They are our talents and those who fail to
use them may find themselves cursed by God and lose all they have (Matthew
25:14-30). Love is not a choice; it is a
commandment.
John 8:1 But Jesus
went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the
temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then
the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when
they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was
caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that
such should be stoned. But what do You say?”
Galatians 3:28 says there is no difference between male or
female, even the Torah said adultery was a death penalty offense for both men
and women, but we can see from this challenge to Jesus that obedience to
scripture fell short here. If she was
caught in the VERY ACT of adultery, where was the man she was found with. People who judge one sex or race or
nationality to be above another have not surrendered to the love of God or even
the righteousness of God. There ought to
have been two people standing before Jesus, one man and one woman.
Can you picture this scene?
Under Roman rule or not, the Jews would normally have stoned this
couple. The Law of Moses was clear, they
(or she) should have been stoned. They
only brought her out for political reasons to make Jesus stumble. Her crime was a death penalty offense. Under Moses, you might repent and ask God for
mercy, but the LAW offered little in the way of grace. Jesus came that we might have life and have
it more abundantly.
John 8:6 This they
said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But
Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did
not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to
them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
They wanted desperately to find some flaw in Jesus’ logic or
in His instructions. How could he
possibly slip out of this one? The law
was clear, stoning. He appeared to
ignore them and squatted down on the ground, writing with His finger. Never forget, every word, every idea and
every action in scripture is filled with meaning. Jesus is the Word of God. Whatever He wrote on the ground had great
meaning.
In Exodus 31:18 it says God wrote the law on the tablets
with His finger. In Daniel 5:5 God’s
fingers wrote the judgment of Belshazzar on the wall. Many scholars believe that Jesus was the hand
in both of those instances in His pre-incarnate form and that while he stooped
upon the ground and wrote He was writing down the sins of each of those
accusers. Remember Matthew 7:1-2 says,
“Judge not, lest you be judged with the very same measure.” I’m not sure what it is about people who are
fully aware of their own sins and yet will point out someone else’s and incur
God’s judgment upon themselves.
I might tell you that homosexuality is a sin, but I am not
going to vilify you before others as if my sins (and we all have them), are
somehow less disgusting to God. One
problem I have with people mocking or attacking Christians in media for their
sins is that it is often after these people have already identified their sins
and have corrected them and asked God for forgiveness. 1 John 1:9-10 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
I don’t believe Christian young man in the news this month
has ever stated that he has never sinned or never sins. The point people miss is that he has repented
of those sins and has corrected his behavior which occurred as a 14 year old child. As far as God is concerned they never
happened. He is forgiven. Satan and his children use condemnation
to marginalize us. Whether the unsaved or even
Christians will give him that grace is unimportant. God will still use him and punish those who
have publicly attacked him. I can’t even
imagine how severe the punishment will be for the Chief of Police who released
his sealed records for the sake of political gain or the news media who ran the
story. How ever you judge someone else,
your sins will come out and attack you (1 Timothy 5:24-25).
John 8:9 Then those
who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one,
beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the
woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one
but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has
no one condemned you?” She said, “No
one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no
more.” Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the
world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of
life.”
I love how it says that they were convicted by their
conscience from the oldest to the youngest. Scribes and Pharisees, the cream of Israelite religious
society, brought this pitiful sinner to Jesus.
They were the KEEPERS OF THE LAW.
From the most noble and aged scholar to the youngest trainee, they all
walked away trying to maintain as much dignity as possible in their
retreat. They knew they were all
sinners. If Jesus was using His gifts to
tell their sins when He wrote on the ground it would have served to shake the
arrogance of even the most self righteous leader.
Maybe we need that today, someone who has the prophetic
gifts to call up the President or congressmen and say, “This is your hidden sin
and God expects a change.” Might be good
for them. In this case He finally got up
and looked around. He and the woman
stood alone in the midst of those He had been teaching. He had just publically embarrassed all the
Pharisees and Scribes with knowledge of their own sins. Jesus came to bring grace, frequently
withheld by the proud religious leadership, and he dispensed it to the woman,
“Go and sin no more.” If you notice he
asked her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Does no one accuse you?” She answered, “No one Lord.” By now she was probably saved AND
delivered. She called Him “Lord,” kyrios, not “teacher” didaskalos like the Pharisees did to put
Him in His place. She knew He was the
life and death authority over her. So
did the people. It didn’t silence the
Pharisees long but they were NEVER able to win a single argument with Him.
There have been many times where God has shown me an “Ah
hah!” moment; where I understood a new truth about a scripture. When we decide we know all there is to know
about scripture we will become as petrified and traditionalized as they were
and God can no longer teach us anything.
This was a major lesson He taught, and while the common people believed,
the Pharisees did not. Luke spoke of
this attitude in Acts 17:10-13. The men
of Berea were willing to hear what Paul and Silas said and searched the
scriptures to see if it was true. The
Jews from Thessalonica came and tried to start trouble when they heard about
it. They denied any possibility of a
deeper understanding.
The word talebearer is used for the word gossip in the King
James Version of the Bible. The word
gossip is used in the New International version (NIV). Talebearer defines the word gossip well. Proverbs 11:13 states, “A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit
conceals a matter.” The Bible also
states “Whoever spreads slander is a fool
(Prov. 10:18a)” and, “A truthful witness gives honest testimony,
but a false witness tells lies (Prov. 12:17 NIV)” or “Like a club or a sword
or a sharp arrow is the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor
(Prov. 25:18).”
Gossip may be completely true, partially true or a complete
lie. It usually has greater or lessor
amounts of truth. In the case of the
young na’ar in the news, gossip was a sin because God had dealt with the flaws
and mistakes of a child and had reinforced His holy word in that young man’s
life. God has offered us the opportunity
to be forgiven and have our sins washed away.
Man wants to punish those who fall short UNLESS they are the one who has
fallen short; then they want to be forgiven.
Man cries, “JUSTICE!” God says,
“You do not want justice. It will cost
you your life and an eternity of suffering.”
Jesus said, “I come that you might have life and have it more
abundantly.”
There is no sin too great to be forgiven except blaspheming
against the Holy Spirit. That sin is so
difficult to accomplish that few have done it.
Simply looking to Heaven in a moment of anguish and crying, “I hate you
God!” is not enough. God knows what is
in man and is gracious and merciful toward us.
We ought to give that same grace and mercy to those around us.
John 6:70 AMP Jesus answered
them, Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And [yet] one of you is a devil (of the
evil one and a false accuser).
Judas falsely accused Jesus of conspiring against God. He knew in his heart it was a lie. He was zealous of a future where Israel would
defeat Rome. He was also a thief who hid
his sin in self righteous complaint against Christ. Judas carried the bag with their money and
stole from it (John 12:4-6). He even
complained that a gift of ointment given to Jesus should have been sold and
given to the poor who he disdained. Many
of our accusers are living lives of darkness and wish to steal our light.
Beloved, love one another.
Be gracious to one another. Keep
your opinions to yourself. Preach the
Word, be ready day or night to speak God’s truths. Trust the Lord.
Bishop J.
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